We arrived on scene to find a man, face down on the asphalt, having fallen out of his car. He was showing all the classic signs and symptoms of a stroke (ie left sided paralysis, facial droop, unequal pupils) and he was sweating profusely. Torrance FD still does not have 12 lead ECG capability but on their monitor everything looked ok with his heart.
We quickly take cervical spinal precautions and strap him onto a backboard. During transport I do a fast assessment (the patient only spoke Spanish so I took the lead on this one). He was panicked and had a bad headache but that's it, no chest pain or trouble breathing. He has a history of high blood pressure but that all. He is taking no medications.
We wheel him into the ER and drop him in bed 6. The ER tech comes in and does a 12 lead ECG which shoes that our patient is having a heart attack on the backside of his heart. I think to myself, "what a bummer. A stroke and an MI at the same time!" About then the ER doc calls me and the other medic over to him and tells us that this is a once in 20 year call. A patient exhibiting these signs and symptoms together is suffering from a dissecting thoracic aortic aneurysm or in plain English, the largest artery in his body was slowly tearing itself in half.
I know that he was in surgery real fast but I never found out if he made it. If he did I wonder what permanent disabilities he will have.
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